Game and apparatus therefor



^ Sept. 27, 1938. H, AMSTERDAM GAME AND APPARATUS THEREFOR 5 sheets-shed 1 I INVENTOR.

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Filed Oct. 2l, 1937 Hlll Sept. 27, 1938. H. AMSTERDAM GAME AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Oct. 21, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 y INVENTOR'. ffzsfc/azz, .BY ,Y

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Sept 27, 193s. H, AMSTERDAM 2,131,653

GAME AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed 0G12. 2l, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 -PAR GAM E'- -0RUER SLIPS Naof SHARES g/ /66 IN VEN TOR. /rzyjfjf 62222* Qam/ T ORN S.

Patented Sept. 27, 1938 PATENT] GFPICB y 2,131,653 v GAMEi AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Harry Amsterdam, Falls Church, Va. Application October 21, 1937, Serial No. 170,286

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a game and more particularly to a game which may be played by a .number of persons and wherein the termination of and winning of the game depends upon chance removal of counters from a quantity thereof placed in a box or other container. It will'thus be seen that the game is entirely controlled by chance and each player is equally liable torwin or lose.

It is another object of the invention to provide a 'chance controlled game wherein the'person drawing the counters from the Vcontainer plays against all of the other players and may win or lose from one or all of the other players according to chance removal of the counters from the container.

- Another object of the invention is the provision of a game apparatus consisting of an improved arrangement of cards and counters together with indicators to be placed upon the cards in accordance with predetermined wishesof the players, the markings of the cards, counters and indicators being such that as the counters are removed at random from the container record thereof may be accurately kept by all of the players. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide a game wherein during play by a number of players termination of the game with respect to one player will not completely end the game as the others may. continue the game until all of the counters are removed from the container.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing a device which is simple and durable in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and one which will be very efcient in operation and application to use. l

With these and numerous other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel featuresy of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred toand more particularly pointed out in the specification and claim. L

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a view of one of the cards distributed to the players'by the master player;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view showing one end portion of a master card used by the master player;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a set of chips or counters stacked upon a holder upon which they are placed when not in use during playing of the game;

AFigure 4 is a view showing the chips of Figure 3 invertical section and the holder in elevation;

Figure 5 is a group View of a set of chips removed from a holder; l f- Y Figure 6 is a group view of a set of tokens used to indicate predetermined plays selected by players other than the master player; `and Figure '7 is a view of a blank or order slip used during playing vof the game. r

`This game is based upon fluctuating values such as Voccur in the stock market'by increases or decreases. in the value of certain stocks and during playing of agame one player who may be referred to as the master player represents a stock brok-er while the otherv players represent customers. 1 The card I `used by the master player and the cards 2 used lby the customers are duplicates except thatr the master card lis of greater dimensions thanthe customers cards.V This is in order that the master card may be easily distinguished from the players cards and also to permit the master player to easily apply chips to the master card. The master card'and each of the players cards is marked with a plurality of horizontally extending linesA and vertically extending lines which intersect andY divide the the card being accompanied by a minus mark and the letters atkthe right hand end of the card being accompanied by a plus mark. yThese letters are printed in the first and last vertical columns 3 and of the card as shown in Figure'l and the y letters of the .master ,cardare printed in contrasting colors as' clearlyV shown in Figure 2.V in order that they may be easilyY distinguishedl from each other. While ten horizontally extending rows of spaces have been shown in the drawings it is to be understood that any number desired may be provided. Each row of spaces contains nineteen spacesbetween the spaces 3 and 4 marked with the letters, the spaces ofthe center column 5 being marked with the numeral ,10 and the spaces of the columns v6 between this center column'and the end columns being| marked with the numerals l through .9 respectively. All of the numerals of'each horizontally extending row of spaces" are enclosed in a colored circle 1 corresponding in color to the color of vthe letters in the end columns 3 and 4 of the master card and the numbers `8 in the columns at the left of thel column 5 are accompanied bya minus sign 9 while the numbers I0 in the columns to the right of the center column are accompanied by plus signs I I. The numerals 10 in the spaces of the center column represent the par value of stocks which are indicated by the letters in the columns 3 and 4 and the numerals in the columns between the center column and the end columns 3 and 4 indicate changes in the value of the stocks which may be losses or gains according to whether the numerals are accompanied by minus or plus signs. The name of the game which may be Par as shown at I2 is printed at the topY a set4 of chips or counters illustrated in Figure 5 and consisting of nineteen chips. Thesev chips are marked with letters I'l and colored as shown at I8 to indicate the stocks to which they refer, the color of each set corresponding to that of the horizontal row bearing a similar letter upon the cards. One of the chips which is indicated by the numeral I9 bears the word Par as shown at 25 together with the letter A and a color marking 2I.y The other chips are of two groups 22 and 23,- the chips oir the group 22 bearing minus signs as shown at 24 and the chips of the group 23 having plus signs 25 thereon.` There are nine chips to each group and theyk are numbered 1 to 9 respectively as shown at 26 and 27. These chips are to be handled by the master or broker who directs the game and placed upon the master card as theyr are drawn at random from a bag or box in which they are placed and shaken before being drawn out, and sincev the markings of the chips correspond to the markings of the spaces upon the master card they can be'quickly set in their proper places upon the master card bythe brokerf and the customers can easilyl identify` corresponding spaces upon their cards and place check markers thereon which may be small pieces of colored card-board, grains of corn, or theilike. A n opening 28 is formed at the center of each chip and in order to carry the chips when they are not in use and easily determine Whether all of the chips of a set are present there has been provided for each set a carrier consisting of a base plate 29 from which rises a centrallylocated pin 30. In view of the fact that the' pin is of such length that the stack of chips will be flush with the upper end ofthe pin when all of the chips are upon the carrier it can be Very easily determined whether all `of the chips of' alset are upon a carrier or certain of the chips misplaced.

There have also been provided sets of tokens which arein. possession of Vthe broker at the start ofthe game and .delivered by him to the various purchasers as aninitial move in starting play. These tokens which are indicated by the numerals 3| and 32 are illustrated in Figure 6 and referring to this gure it will beseen that the tokens are colored to'correspond 'to the stocks they represent and identified by the letters 33. The letters of the group of tokens 3| are each accompanied by a minus sign 34 and the letters of the group of tokens 32 are accompanied by plus signs 35. Tokens companion to all of the stocks are provided, plus and minus tokens for each stock being included, and while only one of each of the tokens has been shown in Figure 6, it is to be understood that a large number of each Will be provided so that the broker can supply each customer with the proper tokens to indicate the stocks dealt Vin by the customer. can deal in any oney or Vall of the various stocks.

When the customers order stocks a record must be kept of the same and in order to do so each customer will be furnished with an order slip removed from a pad inthe possession of the broker. Each of these order slips is printed with duplicate columns 3l and 38 of letters A through "J "accompanied by minus and plus signs and followed by dotted lines so that the customers can write their orders upon the slips opposite the selected letters. If a customer or -player wishes to play a certain stock short he Writes his order after the appropriate letter followed by a minus sign whereas if he wishes to play stock long he writes the order after the Each customer Y letter followedvby the plus sign. Anycustomer, K orplayer, may play any stock long or short,

but he maynot play the same stock both long and short, although he may if he desires, play one stock long and some other short. Two columns of letters are provided upon the order slip as the slip is to be torn along the dotted line 39 and one half of the slip kept by the broker and the other half returned to the customer together with tokens Vcorresponding to the order. Only one token of each stock is delivered to the customerr as the tokens are to merely indicate the stocks ordered and not the quantity, this being shown upon the order slip. The tokens after being received by the customer are to be checked with his portion of the order slip and then placedv inthe spaces of the center column ,5 of his card 2 where they remain as indicators that` he is playing certain stocks. decides whether the game is to be limitedor The broker unlimited. By this is meant whether a customer. may purchase not more than av certain number'of shares of any onestock or in Van unlimited game purchase as many shares as desired.

The par value of each stock is 10, whether it be 10 cents or 10 dimes or A10 anything. Each point won or lost represents one decimalr of the Vpar value of each share of stock and each digit represents the. number'` of points won or lost. Thus, ii the par value of any stock is, 10 cents, then'numberone amounts to one cent, number 2 amounts to 2 cents, number 9 amounts to 9 cents,

etc. The total gains on a certain .stock is represented by the total of digitswon minus the total of digits lost. Thursfor instance, if acertain stock played long has the chips numbered 3+, 5+, and 8+, then Ythe total gain would be 16 points; orV at par value; of 10 cents it would amount vto 16 cents. On the other han-d, if before the stock is, nished playing, there'were also drawn the numbers 2 and 4, then there would be a deduction of 6 points, and the net gain would amount to 10 cents. This method of calculation holds true also for losses, as will become clear .with the following. c

After the broker vhas returned to the customers their parts of .the order slips and has furnished" them with tokens, he then puts the chips in the bag, boX or container Apro-' vided for'that purpose and shakes them up well. so that theV chips are thoroughly mixed. Of course,` if a certain stock is not played at all, then the chips for that stock need not be used,

broker then, without looking to see what chips he is drawing, inserts his handin the `container and draws the chips one by one, calling out the letter, number and plus or minus sign of each chip after drawing it-out of the container. For

example, A1-|-, C3-, 1516+, etc. Each customer who happens to play the stock, no matter whether he plays that stock long or short, represented by the chip called by the broker, covers up that number on his card with a piece of black cardboard paper provided for that purpose, or with anything else handy, such asa grain of corn etc. The broker keeps on calling the chips until he draws out a chip with the inscription fPar on it, let us say H Par. That stock is then called oif the board and there is the pay-off or settlement. Let us see then what are the possible results. l

Suppose, before the H Par chip was called, therev were called already the chips H1-|, H4-|-, and I-I9-|-. That would amount to a total gain, to those who played H stock long, of 21 points, or 21 cents at a par value of 10 cents per share of stock. Now suppose, before the chip H Par was called, there were also drawn the chips H2, H5-, and H6-, or a total loss to those who played long of 13 points. The netgain, therefore, to those who played H stock long would be 21-13=8 cents per share, which amount they are to collect from the broker. On the other hand, those who played H stock short would lose 8 cents, which amount they must pay to the broker. The net result would be a gain 'of 8 cents tothose who played long, a loss of 8 cents to those who played short and neither gain nor loss to the broker.

Suppose, however, before calling the chip H Par, there were called the chips H1-, H4-, H7-Y and H9-; also H2+, H5+ and H6+. Those who played H stock short would then win 8 cents per share, those who played H stock long would lose 8 cents per share, while the broker would neither win nor lose anything.

Suppose, however, the chip kH par is called, and there results a net ygain to those who played that stock short, but at the same time no customer played that stock long, then the loss is borne entirely bythe broker; conversely, if no one played that stock short, then the net gain goes entirely to the broker, while those who played that stock long are the only losers.

As a corollary from the above it follows that if all the plus and minus chips of a stock are called and the Par chip of that stock is called last, then neither the customers, whether they play that stock long or short, nor the broker, either win or lose anything.

As a second corollary it would follow that the maximum gain or loss on any one stock possible to any customer or the broker would amount to a total of 35 points per share and, of course, in an unlimited game or game with a high limit, where, let us say, a customer has ordered 10 shares of a certain stock, the gain or loss would be ten times as much. The gain or loss, however, of 35 points on any stock could occur only on rare occasions, since it could only occur in such instances when either all the chips with a plus sign only or all the chips with a minus sign only have been drawn before the drawing of the Par chip.

As a third corollary it would follow that in case all the stocks on the card are played, both long and short, and for an equal number of shares of each stock, then the broker could not win anything, but neither could he lose v anything.' v Y Y s To sum it'up: The game of Par was so designed that the chances for gain or loss, either to any customer vor vthe broker, are rmathematically equal.

When the broker -'draws the/*Par chip of any stock, he calls againall the chips of that stock previously drawn and found on his master card, so as to enable-his customers ,to check up their possible error. The account for* that stock is then closed and payment is then and there made to whomever KVdue and collected from whomever due. The customers then remove the token and coverslof the black pieces of cardboardl paper from the numbers for that stock, and thebroker i removes the chips for'that stock from his master card andfputs them back onthe rod. He then At leastone numbered chip of a certain vstock must be drawn first before the Par :chipof the same stock may be called. In case the ParV chip of a certain stock happens tobedrawn previous to the'drawing of any numberedv chip kof thesame stock, then `such Par` chip is not called', but is returned to the container,andis1called only when drawn again after one or morewchips of the `same stock had been drawn and calle`d.,f y

A modified form of this vgame may be played at house parties, where the host or hostess provides prizes Yfor the players.` The maximum number'of players who can play this modified form of the game is 20. In this modified game, however, no order slips are needed, twenty of the tokens are drawn by the players, of which ten of the tokens f are-from A-lto J -land ten ofthe tokens are from A- to'J-. one token and plays one shareY o one stock only, which is either plus or minus (long or short) Vand corresponds to the token the prospective player has drawn, such as A-lor B-, or Whatever token the player has drawn. The host or hostess acts in such game as broker, which in this modified form of the game is called referee. The referee, of course, does not compete for a prize. The game from'then on is played similarly as described inV the foregoing: When a Par chip is drawn there is recorded the gain or loss to the player playing that stock long (-1-) and to the player playing that stock short After all the chips have been played, the player who won most points gets Each participant in the game draws the first prize, and the player who lost most points Y.

gets the booby prize. As far as the manner of awarding `of prizes is concerned, the host vorY hostess may modify the above suggestion to his or her liking.

In vcase there are less than twenty players, let

us say, only eight players, then four stocks and four corresponding setsof chips are played, say

from A to D', and the tokens from A+ toD-iand from A- to D- are drawn by the players for places or stocks. The host as. referee puts the chips A to D in the container and draws the chips therefrom as previously explained.v The cards against the numbers vthus drawn for any CII.

while I have particularly described the elementsrest of the procedure is the same as given under the paragraph above. For any other number of players less than twenty the proportion of stocks, chips andtokens is accordingly. f, In case the players aremade up of an odd number, say seven players, then the game proceeds as aboveyvvith an even number of stocks, chips and tokens, as described before; namely, four stocks are` played, four sets of chips; are drawn and four corresponding tokens with a plus sign and four corresponding tokens with a minus sign are drawn by the prospective players. It is Ytrue that there is an eXtra token, but this is only used to determine Whether therodd player should play his stock long or short; otherwise it does in no Way effect the outcome of the game diierently than if there were an even number of players.

Another modified form of the Par game is for players to pair off against each other on the basis of long players and short players. This form of 4 the game is in most respects similar to those previously described; namely each player plays only onek stock, decided bydrawing a token whether it is to belong or shortybut, instead of competing for a prize, the players pair 01T, and each player playing a certain stock long plays against an opponent who plays the same stock short. In this form of thegame the winner playing a certain stock collects directly from his opponent. In case I there is an odd number of players, then the broker or referee pairs 01T as opponent tothe odd player, and uses his master card also as a players card.

Fromthe foregoing description of the construcf, tion of my improved device, the operation thereof and the ymethod of Vapplying the same to use will be readily understood. It will be seen that I have provided a simple,inexpensive and eiiicient means for carrying out the objeetsof the invention and best adaptedfto perform the functions. s'etxforth, it is. obvious'that variousA changes in form, proportion and in Ythe minor details of vconstruction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the principles of the invention. f

Having thus'described the invention, what is claimed is: Game apparatus comprising a master card, a plurality of players cards, said cards being each provided-with horizontal rows of spaces Yhaving therein scoring symbols, thesymbols of each row being clearly distinguishable'from the symbols of other rows and arranged in horizontally extending groups of progressively different values, the Values of one group being accompanied by plus signs and representing increasing values and those of a second group being accompanied by minus signs and representing decreasing values, one symbol of each row being located between the groups of the said row and being of a higher valuevthan the symbols of either group and constituting.: par value, a plurality of setsof identifying tokens, the tokens of each set bearingidentiiication symbols Ycompanion to the symbols of one row of spaces of a card, said tokens being of asize adapting them to be deposited upon the spaces of a players card bearing Par markings, order slips each provided with a scoring line adapting it to be divided into sections, each section of an order sliphaving thereon identifying symbols corresponding to the symbols of the tokens and also having spaces op'v posite the symbols to receive notations relating v to transactions in the game, and a plurality of sets of chips, the chips of eachset bearing symbols corresponding to the symbols in the spaces of one row of spaces of a card. f

HARRY Ali/Is'rERizvAM.` 

